VietNamNet Bridge – Qualcomm believes that Vietnam’s conditions are ripe enough to build up a mobile device industry and it’s now the right time for the country to set up a strategy for the industry development. It has promised to support Vietnamese enterprises to make mobile devices such as smart phones or tablets.

The opportunity has come

Vietnam’s mobile phone manufacturing is facing big difficulties. Three years ago, Q-mobile was considered the biggest Vietnamese mobile phone brand, specializing in developing popular products. However, Q-mobile’s products became less favorite in the market right after the big guys in the world like Nokia or LG launched their products in the same market segment.

A lot of other Vietnamese mobile phone brands have left the market quietly after they realized that they would not be able to compete with the foreign brands.

In fact, some Vietnamese enterprises still nurture the “made-in-Vietnam” mobile phone dream. Viettel is an example. However, its products are still far away from conquering the hearts of consumers.

Nevertheless, Thieu Phuong Nam, Indochina’s General Director of Qualcomm, still keeps optimistic about the Vietnam’s prospect in the mobile phone industry. He said that the biggest names in the mobile phone industry like Samsung and Nokia have set up their production bases in Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam has every reason to believe that other the big guys would help lure the enterprises in the supporting industries.

If so, this could be a big advantage for Vietnam to develop its mobile industry, enabling it to make mobile phones and tablets, and Vietnam would not have to buy the products from China any more.

In general, the world’s leading mobile manufacturers only focus on making high grade devices at the prices which are beyond the financial capacity of the majority of users. Therefore, there always exist the market opportunities for domestic manufacturers. They can make the products which have the features suitable to users and have reasonable prices.

Qualcomm may let Vietnam use its inventions

Nam has recommended that Vietnam needs to build up a long term strategy on developing its mobile phone industry. It would need to obtain the right to use the intentions of the leading mobile manufacturers in the world. Qualcomm now has several thousands of inventions in the field and it is willing to share the inventions with other countries to develop their mobile industries.

“The countries which have strong mobile industries all have been using Qualcomm’s inventions, more or less. Vietnam can also share the inventions to develop its industry in the future,” Nam said.

The thing Vietnam needs to do is to sign the copyright contracts with Qualcomm to be able to use the inventions. The companies which sign contracts with Qualcomm with the provisions to be agreed by the two sides would be able to utilize all the inventions at this moment and in the future. The companies would have to pay fees based on the number of devices to be manufactured.

Tens of Chinese companies  have also been using Qualcomm’s inventions.

“If Vietnam does not take actions to prepare intensively for its mobile industry, it would never have the mobile industry of its own. It would simply buy Chinese products and label the products with Vietnamese brands to sell on the domestic market,” Nam said.

The military telecom group Viettel has signed a contract with Qualcomm on using Qualcomm’s inventions in making 3G USBs.

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